Automated Voice Messaging

No need to manually call all customers when launching a new promotion, changing service conditions, or any other important event. Record a message file, upload a list of numbers for the call, and activate the Automated voice messaging (AVM) service. The cloud PBX will call each customer from the list and play your announcement.

1. Go to the More section in the cloud PBX settings.

2. Select Automated voice messaging in the Service for Sales Department section.

3. Enable the option by moving the toggle switch to the right, and select the numbers from which the calls will be made during AVM. Click Save to confirm.

If you have selected multiple numbers for AVM, the cloud PBX will use them in random order.

4. An icon labeled Automated voice messaging will appear in the side menu. Click it.

5. To create a new AVM task, click the Tasks tab, and then select Add Task.

6. Enter the name of the AVM task. The name should be descriptive enough for you to easily find it in the general list.

7. Enable AVM. Then the task will start automatically after you have completed all the settings.

8. If you have multiple AVM tasks running simultaneously, assign a priority to each task on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is the highest priority and 5 is the lowest one.

The priority will determine how the system will distribute calls between tasks: the cloud PBX will make more calls with priority 1 and fewer calls with priority 5.

9. Depending on your goals, you can either upload an audio file to be played by the AVM or synthesize speech within the cloud PBX.

Upload a File

Note the technical requirements:

• Supported formats are MP3, WAV, OGG, and M4A.
• The maximum file size is 10 MB.

If you want to use various audio files for different customers, upload an archive containing the necessary audio files along with a .csv, .xls, or .xlsx file. Specify which file should be played for each specific number in the archive. Pay attention to the following points:

• If the file is in .xls or .xlsx format, you will need two columns: one for the client's number in the format 44XXXXXXXX and another for the name of the audio file that will play for them.
• If the file is in .csv format, each row should include the phone number and the name of the audio file, separated by a semicolon (;).

Synthesize Speech

You can create your unique message that will be automatically voiced by standard voices. To ensure the best quality, follow the rules of spelling and punctuation. Note that the maximum length of the text should not exceed 500 characters, and the number of speech synthesis attempts is limited to 50 times per day.

10. Upload the list of client numbers for Automated coice messaging in .csv, .xls, or .xlsx formats. The format of the numbers should be as follows: 44XXXXXXXXX.

If all client numbers comply with the required format, you will see a message confirming the successful number addition. If there are any errors in one or more numbers, the cloud PBX will notify you and indicate the rows containing numbers in the incorrect format.

11. Configure the schedule for Automated voice messaging:

• Select the start date for an AVM campaign. Choose any day within the next four months, starting from today.
• Specify the end date for the AVM campaign. It should be within 7 days from the start date.
• The cloud PBX will make calls to the list numbers only on the specified days of the week and during the designated hours. It will consider the client's time zone to ensure the calls don't disturb the client.

12. Set up exceptions, if you want to exclude certain clients from being dialed. You can configure how to handle the list of unsubscribed numbers in a task. By default, all clients added to the unsubscribe list are excluded from the task. However, if you need to exclude numbers only from a temporary list or notify all clients, select the corresponding option.

Read further about unsubscribe lists.

13. Specify how the cloud PBX will make calls to the customer. For example, you can configure how many seconds to wait for an answer, how many attempts to make, and how long to wait before making a call again.

Set the listening time that will identify the call as successful. If the customer hangs up before that time, the cloud PBX will attempt to call again after a specified interval.

14. Click Save.

Well done! On the specified date and time, the Automated voice messaging task will start automatically. You'll be able to track its progress — select Tasks — Active.

To analyze the results of your Automated voice messaging campaign, you can download a report for any completed task by following these steps:

1. Go to the Completed or All tab in your cloud PBX.
2. Locate the specific task you're interested in.
3. Click the “Download” button in the Report column.

Select how to group the data in the report (by client numbers or by calls) and choose the file format.

You can monitor the current status of Automated voice messaging tasks in each time zone to track the number of clients who:

• Have successfully listened to the message by either answering the call or returning a missed call from the number used for AVM.
• Did not answer one or more calls but still have the potential to pick up the phone during the remaining call attempts.
• Will not be dialed because they have ignored all the attempts to reach them or have explicitly opted out of audio notifications.
• Have not received any calls yet because they are still in the queue for Automated voice messaging.

You can stop AVM for a task at any time. Go to the Tasks tab, select the Active section, find the desired task, click it, and toggle the Enable dialing switch to the left or Off position. This will disable the AVM for that task.

The numbers you select for AVM will no longer be used as general company numbers.

To ensure that customers can contact you after receiving an AVM call, decide how incoming calls those numbers will be handled.

In the AVM settings, navigate to the Incoming call handling tab. When an incoming call is received, you can:

• Drop the call. A customer will hear a busy tone.
• Stop processing. The cloud PBX will no longer make any further calls to this customer within all the active tasks.
• Add the number to the unsubscribe list. You ensure that the customer has heard your message and will no longer be contacted with AVM calls.
• Enable a self-service menu. The customer can listen to the message again, contact an employee, or unsubscribe from audio broadcasts.
• Enable call forwarding to an external number or SIP URI. All incoming calls will be automatically redirected to your call center (to set up call forwarding to a SIP URI, enter ext@domain in the Number field, where ext is the extension of an employee or department, and the domain is your domain in the following format: company.cloud-pbx.store).

You can create a list of numbers to exclude from AVM, even if those numbers are included in the task list. For example, this list can contain VIP clients you prefer to contact personally or customers who have not given consent for informational broadcasts.

To add exclusion numbers, go to the Unsubscribe list tab in the AVM settings.

To add numbers manually, click the Upload list button.

Select how long the numbers should remain in the exclusion list (temporary or permanent), and enter one or several numbers in the following format: 44XXXXXXXXX.

To upload a list of numbers from a file in .csv, .xls, and .xlsx formats, go to the Unsubscribed list tab and click the Upload from file button.

The system will automatically add clients who call back and select the option Unsubscribe from audio broadcasts to the unsubscribed list.

You can download the complete list of unsubscribed numbers in a .csv format.