Taking and sending a message from a caller

Owned by Helen Griffith
Last updated: Dec 19, 2022
4 min read

How do I configure taking a message from a caller and sending that message to the appropriate recipient?

Using the Take Message applet, you can prompt a caller to leave a voice message. Vonage Contact Center then sends that voice message in an email to a recipient or recipients.

All emails from VCC come from the same email address: noreply@cc.vonage.com. Users should add this email address to their list of safe senders.

You can use any combination of the following elements:

  • dynamic and generic audio files.
  • dynamic and static email addresses.
  • dynamic and static email subjects

You can only use dynamic elements if the feature is enabled for your account.

To use any dynamic elements in the Take Message applet, you must configure data sources. These data sources must contain the required values for the elements when Vonage Contact Center routes the call to the applet.

You can use any applet that stores data in a data source to create the data sources. The following applets create data sources:

  • Data Connector applet. For information about the Data Connector applet, see Data Connector applet.
  • IVR Collect Digit applet. For information about the IVR Collect Digit applet, see IVR Collect Digit applet.
  • IVR Collect Digit String applet. For information about the IVR Collect Digit String applet, see IVR Collect Digit String applet.
  • IVR Set Menu Digit applet. For information about the IVR Set Menu Digit applet, see IVR Set Menu Digit applet.
  • IVR Set Menu String applet. For information about the Set Menu String applet, see IVR Set Menu String applet.
  • Set Data Source applet. For information about the Set Data Source applet, see Set Data Source applet.

You can also use an existing data source; by default, all calls have the following data sources available:

  • Call Guid
  • CLID

  • Dialled Number

    The Dialled Number ($(DialledNumber)) data source contains the ID of the interaction plan rather than its phone number. The ID and the phone number will often be the same, but this is not guaranteed. Therefore you should not use $(DialledNumber) to indicate the number dialed by the caller.

  • Language

  • First Agent ID

    First Agent ID is only populated after Vonage Contact Center has routed the call through an ACD applet to an agent.

  • DisplayName. By default, DisplayName contains the CLID of the inbound caller. For information about using a custom value in the DisplayName data source, see Setting a display name for an inbound interaction.
  • InteractionOutcome. By default, InteractionOutcome contains the outcome of the interaction. For information about interaction outcomes, see Interaction outcomes.
  • Interaction Start Time. The time, in UTC, that the interaction starts. For callbacks, InteractionStartTime will be the start of the original interaction.

If you use a post-call named route for post-interaction processing, all data sources configured at the time the interaction finishes (including InteractionOutcome) are available to the target named route.

For additional information about dynamic audio files, see Dynamic audio files.

To use the Take Message applet, perform the following tasks:

  1. Create a Take Message applet. If you are using an dynamic elements, create the applet in the same interaction plan as your data source or data sources.
    • Configure the initial audio file. This audio file informs the caller that they can leave a voice message.
      To use a dynamic audio file, in Initial audio data source, click the data source that will contain the initial audio's file name at run time. To use a static audio file, click Choose file alongside Initial generic audio file. Select the audio file that Vonage Contact Center plays in the following circumstances:
      • if you do not select a data source that contains the file name of the initial audio
      • if Vonage Contact Center cannot locate the audio file defined in Initial audio data source
    • Configure the confirmation audio file. This audio file requests that the caller listens to, accepts, or rerecords their voice message.
      To use a custom confirmation audio file, in Confirmation audio data source, click the data source that will contain the confirmation audio's file name at run time. To use a static audio file, click Choose file alongside Confirmation generic audio file. Select the audio file that Vonage Contact Center plays in the following circumstances:
      • if you do not select a data source that contains the file name of the confirmation audio
      • if Vonage Contact Center cannot locate the audio file defined in Confirmation audio data source
    • Configure the email address or addresses that Vonage Contact Center sends an email containing the voice message to. You can specify email addresses for one or more recipients. You can use a combination of static email addresses and dynamic email addresses. Dynamic email addresses are defined at run time in the data source you specify.
      To use dynamic email addresses, in Recipient email, type the dollar sign ($). A list of available data sources appears. Click the data source that will contain the email address at run time. Repeat for additional dynamic email addresses, separating multiple values with a comma. Type any static email addresses, again separating multiple values with a comma.

    • Configure the subject of the email that contains the voice message. You can specify a static email subject, a dynamic email subject, or an email subject that contains a combination of both. The dynamic elements are defined at run time in the data source you specify.
      To use a dynamic email subject, in Subject, type the dollar sign ($). A list of available data sources appears. Click the data source that will contain the value that you want to include in the email subject of the email that contains the voice message. Repeat for additional values. Type any static text you want to include.
      If any of your specified data sources are empty or null, the applet will use the default subject of 'Message from appletName on interactionPlanName'.

    For more information about the Take Message applet, see Take Message applet.

When Vonage Contact Center routes a call to a Take Message applet, the following events occur:

  1. Vonage Contact Center plays the initial audio file to the caller. If you specify a data source that contains the initial audio's file name, Vonage Contact Center locates and plays this audio file. If Vonage Contact Center cannot locate the audio file, or you do not specify a data source, Vonage Contact Center plays the initial generic audio file. If you do not provide a generic audio file, Vonage Contact Center plays the platform's default audio file.
  2. The caller leaves a voice message.
  3. Vonage Contact Center plays the confirmation audio file to the caller.
    • If you specify a data source that contains the confirmation audio's file name, Vonage Contact Center locates and plays this audio file.
    • If Vonage Contact Center cannot locate the audio file, Vonage Contact Center plays the confirmation generic audio file.
    • If you do not specify a data source, Vonage Contact Center plays the confirmation generic audio file.
    • If you do not provide a generic audio file, Vonage Contact Center plays the platform's default audio file.
  4. The caller optionally listens and rerecords their voice message until they accept the message.
  5. Vonage Contact Center sends an email to the specified recipient or recipients. The email has the specified subject and contains the accepted voice message.
  6. Vonage Contact Center routes the call to the next applet you specify.
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