Introduction

Sangoma CX now supports integration with both of Sangoma’s Business Voice solutions (referenced as BV in this document).

Sangoma CX and BV are two communication platforms that serve a different set of specialized functionalities and user types through their respective phone extensions.

The Sangoma CX BV Integration allows agents to bind their BV extension to Sangoma CX. This allows the agent to be reached directly on their BV extension, and also be able to blend and handle Sangoma CX’s tasks and interactions when available.

Requirements

The requirements are:

• Agents must have a BV extension with a supported phone (hardphone or softphone).

• Activation is required in the Sangoma CX tenant, via a request to Sangoma.

• Follow the configuration steps described in this document to enable BV extensions and Agents to use this feature.

• A Computer and Log-in through the Agent Panel will be needed for Agents that are required to use features only supported by interacting with the Agent Panel interface.

Supported Agent Setups

The BV integration allows Agents to interact with the Sangoma CX platform with or without a computer:

With a computer: Agents validate their credentials in the Agent Panel and will be able to select a BV extension to handle the calls. Agents handle the calls with a phone terminal like any other call delivered to their BV extension but will also have some extra capabilities by using the Agent Panel. This guide and the Sangoma CX Business Voice Integration Agent Guide provides the specifics on how to bind and use the BV extension. Detailed explanation of the Agent Panel interface and its capabilities is available in the Sangoma CX Agent User Guide.

Just using the BV phone: Agents are able to login in, logout, change outbound queue, pause, unpause, and review their status as Agent just by using the phone and dialing a BV application destination. Agents logged in and available to handle queued calls will get the calls delivered on their BV extension following the ACD rules. Agents will also be able to make outbound calls by using the BV platform or Sangoma CX platform.

Telephony Actions and Call Behaviors

Once a BV extension is bound with the Sangoma CX platform, the following telephony actions are supported in the phone terminal when handling contact center Calls:

• Pick-up Inbound call: any Sangoma CX call will ring the extension and the Agent will have to pick up the call as any other call received in that extension.

• Outbound Call via Outbound Queue: Agents must dial the (*4) prefix to force making the outbound calls through the Sangoma CX platform. These calls will follow the queue configuration, such as call recordings or post call surveys.
  Note: These calls will be tracked and reported in the monitors and reports available in the Sangoma CX platforms like any other contact center call tracked by the platform.
  Note: Dial rules applied are the ones configured for the Outbound Queue selected by the Agent.

• DTMF Tones: allows to send DTMF when a call is established, and the keypad keys of the phone are pressed.

• Hold: this action is taking place in the BV platform, so the played back music on hold is the one configured in BV platform, not Sangoma CX’s.

• Mute: this action is done by the Phone. Sangoma CX does not have any control or information about it.

• Blind Transfers: Any Blind transfer done by the BV platform:

  • Sangoma CX will not collect any information about the transfer or the phone number the call was transferred to. Unless the call originated from the CX platform

• Attended Transfers If Agent is logged in and prefix is blanked out: 

  • Attended Transfers to an external number using the Business Voice platform:

    • Sangoma CX will track and report the external outbound calls in the monitors and reports. 

  • Attended Transfers to an internal number using the Business Voice platform:

    • Sangoma CX will track and report the info in the monitors and reports.

• Conference: Any conference done by the BV platform:

  • Sangoma CX will not collect any information about the extensions or phone numbers conferenced.

• Hang-up: like with any other call, it can be terminated using the phone.

This integration also manages several call conflicting scenarios by implementing the following set of call routing rules or behaviors on BV bound extensions:

• All calls coming from Sangoma CX to the bound BV extension:

  • BV will disable find me/follow me if enabled.

  • BV will disable routing to voicemail if enabled.

  • Important: Do not disturb cannot be disabled because it is done by the phone, not the platform.

• If an Agent is handling a Sangoma CX call:

  • If there is a BV call for that extension, BV will consider the extension busy and the call will be routed to voicemail if configured.

• If an Agent is in Sangoma CX as available or on pause:

  • If there is a BV call for that extension, BV will deliver the call to the device and follow whatever setting on that extension.

• If an Agent is on a BV call:

  • Sangoma CX will get an event, tagging the agent busy with a UCaaS call and enable automatically the Pause Code “UCaaS Call”. The Sangoma CX platform won’t try to deliver queued calls to that extension when on a pause. The agent will be unpaused automatically when the BV call is terminated.

  • Important: Agents must be instructed to avoid unpausing “UCaaS Call” pauses manually to ensure Sangoma CX maintains correct information about the agent status using the BV extension in a BV call.

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• If an Agent is logged into a CCaaS bound BV extension and the extension is not busy and Sangoma CX delivers a Service Call:

  • If the Agent does not pick up the call, the Sangoma CX will consider it as a Rejected/Unanswered call by the Agent and timeout penalties are applied. If this persists, an option to log the agent out when reaching the threshold of Maximum Rejected / Unanswered Calls can be configured under Contact Center > Management > Agent Groups.

Considerations

This section details peculiarities when using a BV bound extension as Agent extension vs a SIP or WebRTC extension registered directly in Sangoma CX.

Automations

The Sangoma CX Salesforce Connector and the Click to Dial Chrome extension only work with Sangoma CX WebRTC extensions and will not work with a bound BV extension.

Telephony

As detailed in the section Telephony Actions and Call Behaviors, some telephony actions are not controlled by the Sangoma CX platform but instead by BV. The following differences are expected.

• Hold music differs from the one configured in Sangoma CX, when agents push the hold button on the BV phone. The music played back is the one configured in BV.

• Any Call Transfer done by the Agent using a BV phone, is done through the BV platform, concluding in:

  • The Caller ID presented is the one configured in the BV platform for the BV extension.

  • Blind Transfer to any external number is possible.

• Any Conference done by the Agent using a BV phone, is done through the BV platform, concluding in:

  • Conference details are not provided in the Sangoma CX reports.

  • The Caller ID presented is the one configured in the BV platform for the BV extension.

Recordings

Be aware that if an extension is bound then the following rules apply:

• Queued Calls are recorded if enabled in the queue. These recordings are stored and reported in the Sangoma CX platform.

• If the BV extension has the recording setting enabled, all calls received on the extension are recorded. This includes both Sangoma CX and BV calls. These recordings are stored and reported in the BV platform.

When using the Agent Panel

When an agent is on a BV call with a bound extension, the Sangoma CX will receive an event and then automatically put the agent on pause using the “UCaaS Call” Pause Code. When the call is terminated, the agent will automatically be unpaused.

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When using only the BV phone extension without the Agent Panel

Call Reasons are not supported.

• Agents do not have the option to select hung up or transfer the call to survey if the “Surveys Behaviors” option is enabled in the queue. The system will use the default setting configured in the queue when the call is hung up.

• It is not possible to do a blind transfer directly to Agents within the Sangoma CX platform. This capability is only available when using the Agent Panel.

• Search and select contacts is not available. The embedded CRM module is only available when using the Agent Panel.

• Agents won’t be informed if a pause is reaching or exceeding a timeout pause. This information is only available using the Agent Panel.

• The “Block Unpause'' option is not enforced. If the agent is using the Agent Panel, this feature allows blocking agents exceeding pause timeout, requiring a supervisor to unblock them. Phone only Agents won’t be blocked to unpause if timeout exceeded even if this option is checked.

Feature Configuration and Administration

Once the BV integration is activated in the tenant, administration and configuration is conducted by using the following tools and screens.

Business Voice Portal Administration

The Business Voice Portal is used to to configure the following::

• Direct Dials so phone only agents can reach the voice applications (IVR call flows) that allow them: log in, log out, change outbound queue, pause, unpause and know their status in the Sangoma CX platform.

• Enable the BV extensions to allow Agents to bind them as Sangoma CX extension.

  • In the Administration and Supervision portal, these extensions will be listed under System > Extensions in the Sangoma CX with the Group “External / UCaaS”.

  • Please review if the Group “external/ucaas” has a valid External Caller ID Number assigned in the Sangoma CX Administration and Supervision portal, otherwise in some scenarios the Agent making external outbound calls through CX could potentially provide the extension number instead of a valid Caller ID and calls will drop. To change the Group settings, click on the Group Name in the System > Extensions or System > Groups screens.

Configuring Direct Dials to reach Sangoma CX Voice Applications

Under Configuration > Destinations in the Business Voice Portal, the Administrator assigns the direct dial numbers to each of the IVR Call Flows. The IVR Call Flows deliver specific application functions to agents so they can interact with the Sangoma CX by only using a BV registered phone/extension. The available voice applications are:

• CCaaS Log In:

  • Asks for: Agent ID, Agent PIN, Outbound Queue ID and optionally Pause Code ID, if the agent does not want to make him/herself available to handle calls immediately after the login.

  • Action: Logs the agent into the assigned queues and binds the BV extension that dialed the IVR. The Agent becomes available if the agent presses 0 when asking for Pause Code ID.

• CCaas Simplified Log In:

  • Note: This is a simplified version of the “CCaaS Log In” for organizations that do not need to have that many options, simplifying and speeding up the logging process to Agents.

  • Asks for: Agent ID, Agent PIN, and Outbound Queue ID if the agent is assigned to multiple queues and the Agent has previously never selected an Outbound Queue.

  • Action: Logs the agent into the assigned queues and binds the BV extension that dialed the IVR. The Agent becomes available immediately after login.

• CCaaS Individual Queue Log In:

  • Asks for: Queue IDs to log in/out of. The agent won’t have this capability unless authorized.

  • Action: Log in/out the agent, from specific queues.

• CCaaS Log Out:

  • Action: Will log out the Agent from Sangoma CX and unbind the extension.

• CCaaS Change Outbound Queue:

  • Asks for: Outbound Queue ID.

  • Action: Changes the agent to the entered outbound queue.

• CCaaS Pause Agent:

  • Asks for Pause ID.

  • Changes the Agent’s Pause status

• CCaaS Unpause Agent:

  • Action: Unpauses the Agent.

• CCaaS Agent Status:

  • Action: Provides information about the Agent status. Possible outcomes:

    • Agent logged in and available. Optionally provides the list of queues the agent is available to work.

    • Agent paused and Pause ID.

    • Agent busy.

    • Agent not logged in.

Enabling BV extensions as Agent Extensions

Under Configuration > Extensions in the Business Voice Portal, the Administrator enables the extensions to be bound with Sangoma CX so they can be used as Agent Extension. These BV extension settings need to be configured:

Select a supported phone (hardphone or softphone). Reference Appendix A as it includes a detailed list of BV and BV+ Phones supported as Sangoma CX Agent Station.

Under the Phone field, set the Agent Station to “Yes”.

Sangoma CX Administration

External CallerID Number on Group external/ucaas 

Review if the Group “external/ucaas” has a valid External Caller ID Number assigned, otherwise in some scenarios the Agent making external outbound calls through CX could potentially provide the extension number instead of a valid Caller ID and calls will drop. To change the Group settings, click on the Group Name in the System > Extensions or System > Groups screens.

Agents Configuration

The following configuration is required only if the organization intends on having Agents log in and handle Sangoma CX calls without interacting with the Agent Panel. Under the Sangoma CX Administration and Supervision portal, the administrator needs to enable the Agents authorized to use these voice applications.

When editing an Agent, click the “UCaaS Phone Only” tab and configure:

• Agent ID: Enter up to 10 digits. This has to be considered as the Agent username when interacting with the CCaaS Log In voice application.

• Pin: Enter 4 digits. This has to be considered as the Agent password when interacting with the CCaaS Log In voice application.

• Enable: Check the Enable box. This enables the agent to login into the platform using the BV Phone.

Note: It is very important to review the Considerations section to avoid configuring queue properties that are not supported when only using the BV phone to handle Sangoma CX calls. For example, Call Reasons.

Information needed by Agents

The following information needs to be provided to the agents.

Agents only using Agent Panel

For agents that will be using BV integration they will must be provided the following information:

• Agent Panel URL

• Username & Password

• BV extension number they need to bind.

All other information is available in the interface and any change in the configuration such as pauses, outbound queues, call reasons or CRM contacts are automatically updated in the Agent Panel.

More information about the capabilities and usability of the Agent Panel is available in the following links:

• Sangoma CX Agent Quick Start Guide

• Sangoma CX Agent User Guide

Agents only using the BV Phone

The following information needs to be provided to these agents. This information needs to be updated if the agent assigned to queues changes or if pauses in the assigned queues change.

• BV extension to use.

• Agent ID.

• Agent PIN.

• List of direct dial numbers to reach the different CCaaS voice applications: login, logout, etc.

• List of Outbound Queues, IDs, and Descriptions, the Agent can use. Note: agents must be assigned to the queues.

• List of Pause IDs and Descriptions the Agent can use.

• If an agent is enabled to log-in/out of individual queues, the list of Queue IDs and Queue Descriptions the agent is assigned to.

CCaaS Voice Applications Direct Dial List

The list of CCaaS voice applications direct dials are available in the Business Voice Portal, under Configuration > Destinations. The Direct dial numbers are the number inside the brackets.

Outbound and Inbound Queues ID List

Outbound and Inbound Queues IDs and descriptions are available in the Sangoma CX Administration portal under Contact Center > Management > Queues. Please keep in mind:

• Agents can only select Outbound Queues the Agent is assigned to.

• If enabled, agents can only Log in / out of individual queues the Agent is assigned to.

• Only provide Outbound Queues that have the Rules settings set to allow Agents to make outbound calls.

Pause ID List.

Pause IDs and descriptions are available in the Sangoma CX Administration portal under Contact Center > Management > Pause Codes. Please keep in mind Agents can only select Pause Codes that are enabled on Queues the Agent is assigned to.

Agents using both the Agent Panel and BV Phone only options

Agents who login in the Agent Panel with a bound BV extension also have the option to close the Web Application and continue handling Sangoma CX calls by only using the BV. If this option is intended to be used by the contact center, these Agents have to be enabled for the phone only option.

Agents will have to follow the next steps to continue working only with the BV phone:

• Access the Agent panel.

• Open the Menu by clicking the Agent icon located in the upper right corner’

• Click logout.

The following “Warning” popup window will appear. Click the option “Close application and continue call answering” and close the browser tab.

The agent will be kept logged into the Sangoma CX platform as BV Phone only Agent.

Note: If the button “Finishing answering” is selected, the BV extension is unbound to the agent, and the Agent is also logged out of the ACD and the application.

Reports

The Login History report available under Contact Center > Reports > Login History provides information in relation to the extension used by the agents.

Bound BV extensions will be reported as:

• uccas: indicates the agent used a BV extension

• LOCATION-ID: is the Location ID related to the extension selected by the agent.

• BV-EXTENSION-NUMBER: is the BV extension number selected by the agent during the login process. This is the same extension displayed in the left upper corner of the Agent Panel under the Agent Name.

This information could be useful to Business Voice Portal Administrators, if Agents report they logged into the extension but did not receive calls. Keep in consideration the same extension number can be configured in different locations. This report confirms if this might be causing confusion to agents on which extension they need to use to bind.

It is recommended to only enable unique BV extension numbers that can be selected to bind with Sangoma CX to avoid this potential confusion on agents using the Agent Panel.

BV Integration Agents Manual

Details on how Agents bind and work using a BV extension is available in the Sangoma CX Business Voice Extension Integration Agent Guide

For those Agents using a BV phone but Login using the Agent Panel, the above linked guide only provides the process to bind these extensions and specific considerations that differ when using the Agent Panel with a SIP Device or WebRTC extension as Agent telephony endpoint registered within Sangoma CX Platform. Common functionalities and capabilities no matter the Agent endpoint used are available in the Sangoma CX Agent User Guide.

Appendix A: BV and BV+ Phones Supported as Agent Station

The following phones will display the option Agent Station Yes / No: