CHAPTER 3
Enhanced
Announcements
3
This chapter shows you how to set up, record, and play announcements to callers in
queue with TFB’s Enhanced Announcements module. The following topics are covered.

What are Enhanced Announcements? (page 1)

Configuration and Administration (page 1)

Troubleshooting and Maintenance (page 6)
What are Enhanced Announcements?
With Enhanced Announcements, you can significantly augment your call center’s
announcement capacity, without the need for additional DAT cards in the ACD. APM
allows you to play custom announcements to callers in queue by simply sending the
corresponding IVR Announcements from the ACD. Because the Announcement files
reside on the server, your announcement capacity is limited only by your available hard
drive space, and the number of unused IVR Announcements. The Enhanced
Announcement feature is both versatile and easy to maintain. You can record and revise
Announcements quickly and easily whether you’re on-site or off. Note that if you have
purchased Enhanced Automated Attendant, you also have Enhanced Announcements.
T Configuration and Administration
E
This section shows you how to record Enhanced Announcements and route calls to them
C
from the ACD. The Enhanced Announcements module, like ETA/Queue Position, is part
H
of TFB’s turnkey IVR technology, and no special CTI Server configuration is required
except to record Announcements with the TFB Recording Utility.
3-2 Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements
Three major steps are required to implement Enhanced Announcements:
Step 1
Assign IVR Announcement Numbers to each announcement
Step 2
Record the desired Announcements
Step 3
Route desired Calls to Enhanced Announcements from ACD
The following sections will guide you through the details of each step.
Selecting Announcement Numbers
First, assign an unused IVR Announcement number to play each Enhanced
Announcement you want to record. IVR Announcement numbers from 10 to 98 will play
Enhanced Announcements 1010 to 1098 respectively. In other words, sending IVR
Announcement n, plays Enhanced Announcement ‘n + 1000’. Don’t use IVR
Announcement numbers outside that range!
IVR Numbers used for Playing Enhanced Announcements
IVR
Announcement #
Usage
10 – 98
Plays Enhanced Announcements 1010 – 1098.
Also used to route calls to Enhanced Automated Attendant
main menus OR to Custom IVR Applications
Because Enhanced Automated Attendant and Custom IVR applications are also activated
by IVR Announcements 10 to 98, it’s highly recommended that you use IVR numbers 1020 for those two applications, and only use 21-98 for Enhanced Announcements. These
ranges are adequate in most instances. APM modules that are configured by pilot –
Callbacks, Automated Transcriptions, and Queue/ETA – respond to IVR Announcement
‘9’ only, so there is no potential for conflict with these features.
Aside from the considerations above, it’s a good idea to review your existing CCVs for
any ‘@IVR Announcement n’ steps, to ensure that you don’t assign numbers already in
use to Enhanced Announcements.
IMPORTANT TFB uses IVR Announcement numbers (10-98) to route calls to
Automated Attendant menus, to play Enhanced Announcements, and where applicable,
for custom IVR applications. Take care not to assign the same IVR number to more than
one feature. Typically, using IVR Announcement numbers 10-20 for Automated
Attendant (and custom applications), and IVR Announcement numbers 21-98 for
Enhanced Announcements provides adequate range for both features.
Make sure you assign a unique number to each announcement in your script.
Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements 3-3
Next, create the desired announcements using the TFB Recording Utility. You can record
an Announcement without shutting down any part of the CTI system, but it will go live
immediately after recording if the ACD is already configured to play it! The Recording
Utility automatically saves Enhanced Announcements directly to the ‘\tfb\dvps\ann’
directory on the server. Announcement file names are identical to the Announcement
number.
To record an Announcement
1
Start the TFB recording utility by dialing the pilot configured to send IVR
Announcement 99 (the “Recording Pilot”).
2
Enter ‘1234#’ when prompted for a password.
3
Enter ‘1’ to record (‘2’ to listen if you want to hear what’s already there).
4
When prompted for the type of announcement, enter ‘2’ for Enhanced
Announcements.
5
Enter the Enhanced Announcement number (from 1010-1098). For example, if
you record ‘1031’, it will be played when the ACD sends IVR Announcement
number ‘31’ from a CCV, and the filename will be ‘1031’!
6
Record the passage at the tone. Recording automatically stops when you stop
talking for a full second. The message is then played-back automatically, for your
review.
IMPORTANT This is a real time update! After you record an announcement, callers
will hear it if routed by its corresponding IVR Announcement in a CCV. If you don’t want
a particular announcement to go live immediately, you should temporarily remove the
associated IVR Announcement n step in the relevant CCVs.
You can check each recording for clarity, volume, and content by entering a ‘2’ in Step 3.
This is also a good way to double-check the content of an existing message before
recording over it!
3 Enhanced Announcements
Recording Announcements
3-4 Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements
ACD Configuration: Routing Calls to Announcements
Your announcements are ready to go ‘live’ as soon as recording is complete. To activate
any Enhanced Announcement, configure the CCVs for the desired pilots to send the
corresponding IVR Announcement numbers, as shown in the following examples.
EXAMPLE 3-1
CCV to play an Enhanced Announcement
A typical CCV that routes callers to Enhanced Announcement
1030(IVR Announcement number + 1000)
1) Pause
2) Queue to
3) @IVR Announcement
6
1
30 \\Play E-Announcement ‘1030’
.
.
.
NOTE You are not required to queue calls to a split prior to playing the announcement,
as shown in the example above. In fact, doing so may cause the caller to miss all or part
of the announcement if an agent becomes available right away. To ensure that callers
hear the full announcement, queue the call AFTER sending the IVR Announcement as
shown in Example 2.
EXAMPLE 3-2
CCV to Play an Announcement before Queueing
A CCV that routes callers to an Enhanced Announcement, then
queues callers to the desired split.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Pause
@IVR Announcement
Pause
Queue to
Pause
6) Goto CCV step
.
.
.
6
31 \\Play E-Announcement ‘1031’
6
1
30
5
After the Announcement plays, control of the call is resumed by the next CCV step.
Unlike PBX Announcements, you are not required to pause for the length of an Enhanced
Announcement in the CCV. In fact, inserting a Pause after the IVR Announcement n step
will cause the system to pause for the specified duration after the Enhanced
Announcement is finished playing.
Suppose you want to play certain announcements repeatedly to callers while they wait in
queue. You can do so by queuing calls to the desired split, and playing the announcement
Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements 3-5
in a loop, ensuring that there is a Pause of appropriate duration between each IVR
Announcement, as shown in the following example.
EXAMPLE 3-3
CCV to repeatedly play an Enhanced Announcement
1)
2)
3)
4)
Pause
Queue to
@IVR Announcement
Pause
5) Goto CCV step
6
1
27
30
//play E-Announcement 1027
3
Since calls are queued before the announcement is triggered, the caller is immediately
transferred when an agent becomes available in that split, even if the application is in
mid-announcement.
How APM Handles IVR Announcements 10-98
When the ACD sends an IVR Announcement from ‘10’ to ‘98’on Infolink:

APM first checks for an Auto-Attendant menu tagged with that IVR
(see Chapter 4, TFB Auto Attendant). If it finds one, the associated
call is routed to that Auto Attendant menu, not to Enhanced
Announcements. Or, if the IVR number is assigned to any custom
application, the call is routed there.
Otherwise…

APM routes the call to Enhanced Announcements, playing the
Announcement number equal to IVR Announcement number +1000. If
no corresponding announcement file is found, call handling is
immediately returned to the ACD.
3 Enhanced Announcements
A CCV that routes callers to Enhanced Announcements, and
repeatedly plays announcement 1027 at 30-second intervals while
the caller is in queue.
3-6 Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements
T Troubleshooting and Maintenance
E
After configuration, Enhanced Announcements are maintenance-free until you want to
C
make changes, or add new announcements. The simplest way to manage Enhanced
H
Announcements, and to redirect pilots to and from each one, is on the ACD side, directly
from the associated CCVs. You don’t have to make any changes to CTI Server files
unless you want to revise, or make new recordings. If you have any problems with
configuration, see the troubleshooting guide later in this section for fast solutions.
Maintaining Enhanced Announcements
You can add or change Announcements by following the procedures outlined in the
previous sections. Recorded Announcement files are backed up automatically when you
perform a system backup from the CTI Server config. menu., but you may consider doing
a manual backup prior to recording.
The following topics discuss how to edit announcements without re-recording, how to
deactivate announcements, and how to determine whether to use Enhanced
Announcements or PBX announcements in a given situation.
Editing Announcement Files
Frequently the recording process will leave a short amount of silence at the end of your
announcement. You can use VFEdit (included with your system) to edit existing
recordings. VFEdit is not only useful for trimming excess silence, but also for cutting and
pasting sequences together and even for adding audio effects. Before editing
announcement files, copy them to a temporary work-directory to make changes, and copy
them back to the ‘\tfb\dvps\ann’ directory when finished.
Deactivating Announcements
Announcements can be individually de-activated by removing the associated IVR
Announcement from the CCV in question. If you need to, you can erase the recorded
message file from the server by deleting it from the ‘tfb\dvps\ann’ directory on CTI
Server. The associated message files are easy to find, because the file name is the same as
the associated four-digit announcement number. As a precaution, be sure to back up the
entire announcement directory before deleting any files.
Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements 3-7
Aside from convenience and ease-of-use of Enhanced Announcements, there are some
additional criteria to consider when deciding whether a particular announcement is best
suited to be played by this system, or by a PBX (DAT card) Announcement. Because
Enhanced Announcements rely on additional systems – namely Infolink and CTI Server –
they are statistically more vulnerable when any CTI component goes down. Although
CTI failure is relatively infrequent, it’s prudent to use PBX Announcements for any
message that is mandated by regulation or that is otherwise mission-critical. In most other
situations, especially any that require frequent revisions to announcements, you can use
Enhanced Announcements.
Summary of Key Concepts
You should be aware of the following important facts when using Enhanced
Announcements.

When you record (or re-record) an Announcement it becomes live immediately if an
active CCV exists to play it.

The only discernable difference between playing a PBX Announcement and playing
an Enhanced Announcement is that callers hear ringing when transferred to CTI
Server.

You can have up to 89 unique Announcements (1010-1098) and the length of your
Announcements is limited only by available hard drive space on the server.

As a precaution, required Announcements, such as those mandated by state and
federal regulations, should be made from PBX Announcements on DAT cards in the
PBX. Unlike announcements made from CTI modules, PBX announcements are not
reliant on other CTI elements for their functionality, and are statistically less
vulnerable to failure.

You can edit Announcements with VFEdit*, an off-the-shelf prompt editor bundled
with your system, typically used to trim unneeded silence off the end of messages.
Announcement files are named with the associated announcement number in the
‘\tfb\dvps\ann’ directory. See Editing Prompts.
NOTE You don’t need to restart CTI Server to initialize Enhanced Announcements.
*-Some installed systems may predate bundling with VFEdit. However, VFEdit is readily available from your
Software Retailer, or you can contact the TFB Sales line for assistance.
3 Enhanced Announcements
Using Enhanced Announcements vs. PBX Announcements
3-8 Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements
Troubleshooting Guide: Enhanced Announcements
Problems / Questions
Solutions
Some Announcements don’t play to
callers on pilots that should hear them.

Ensure the appropriate CCVs are sending
an IVR Ann No. equal to TFB Ann No.1000.

Dial the pilot configured to send IVR
Announcement 99. Enter ‘1234#’ when
prompted for the password. Enter ‘2’ to
listen to Enhanced Announcements. Enter
the announcement number in question to
ensure it was properly recorded.
Some Enhanced Announcements don’t
play, but the corresponding
Announcement files definitely exist on
the server, and the correct IVR
Announcement number is being sent
from the ACD.

Ensure that that there are no Auto
Attendant menus tagged with the same IVR
Numbers as those used to trigger Enhanced
Announcements. CTI Server will route
callers to any Auto Attendant menu tagged
with an IVR Announcement number sent by
the ACD.
After recording Announcements, and
defining CCV’s to play them, they still
won’t play

You can use any available IVR number
from 10 through 98 (as long as it’s not
assigned to an Auto Attendant menu) –
each corresponds uniquely to the TFB
Announcement number it plays, simply the
IVR number + 1000.
Can I record over existing
announcements while the ACD is
routing calls to them?

Yes. You can revise existing
announcements as often as you desire by
re-recording them in the Recording Utility.
Callers will hear the new announcement
immediately after your recording is
finished.
Callers hear a long delay after some
announcements before they get back to
the queue. Can this be fixed?

Yes. This is typically due to a period of
silence inadvertently recorded at the end of
the prompt file. Open the offending prompt
in VFEdit, and trim off the flat section at
the end of the waveform.
What is the maximum length of an
announcement?

There is no set limit! Your hard drive space
is the only physical limitation.
Problems / Questions
Solutions
What changes need to be made to CTI
Server when I want to direct new pilots
to existing Announcements?

None! If the announcement is already
recorded on CTI Server, you can route
additional pilots just by sending IVR
Announcement n from the CCVs for the
desired pilot, where,
‘n’ = (Announcement Number – 1000).
Callers hear a ringing tone when being
transferred to an Enhanced
Announcement. Can this IVR routing
delay be reduced?

Yes, in certain circumstances. When a call
is routed to an IVR Port, the CTI
application must wait ~3 sec. to ensure that
the corresponding message on Infolink is
retrieved. This wait is not adjustable.
However, NEC’s requirement that a 6 sec.
pause be inserted before and after certain
events can also increase the total transfer
delay. It is possible that your CCVs contain
Pause 6 where none is needed, thereby
introducing an unnecessary delay. BE
EXTREMELY CAREFUL when removing
any Pause 6 statement. Removing the
wrong one can affect the accuracy of
Navigator’s reporting functions.
3 Enhanced Announcements
Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements 3-9
3-10 Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements
Quick Reference Guide: Enhanced Announcements
What it Does
Plays custom Announcements to callers in queue from CTI
Server.
Executeable
(embedded APM feature)
Configuration
None
CTI Config.
Configuration
ACD Config.
Configuration
CCVs must send IVR Announcements 10-98 to play
corresponding Enhanced Announcements 1010-1098.
None
Related .cfg Files
Related Modules
Related file locations
Notes
None
TFB Recordings: \tfb\dvps\ann
Announcements recorded with the TFB Recording Utility,
started by dialing pilot configured to send IVR 99.
3 Enhanced Announcements
Chapter 3 Enhanced Announcements 3-11