Airtel Web-Based Dialler

Airtel is running India’s biggest customer support experience centres to serve 350Mn+ customers across multiple categories. Contact centres are essential for customer interaction. They provide a way for customers to voice their concerns, ask questions, and receive assistance. Airtel has 12000+ advisors across multiple contact centres to serve this large customer base across so many products. This ecosystem is very dynamic, vast, and spread across the country which brings its own set of operational challenges. However, contact centres can also be expensive and time-consuming, mainly if they rely on manual dialling. Airtel needs a cutting-edge technology solution to help streamline contact centres operations.

Problems to solve

1. Increase Productivity: Airtel can increase contact centres productivity by automating the process of dialling phone numbers. This allows agents to spend more time talking to customers and less time dialling phone numbers manually. This can lead to increased call volumes and more leads generated per agent.
2. Improve Efficiency: Airtel can improve contact centres efficiency by ensuring that agents are always connected with the right customers at the right time, when they are available.
3. Cost Savings: By automating the dialling process, Airtel can save money on labour costs rather than having agents manually dial phone numbers, which can be time-consuming and costly.
4. Improved Customer Experience: Airtel can improve the customer experience by ensuring that customers are connected efficiently with the agents. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
5. Data Collection: Provide important metrics such as call volumes, conversion rates, and agent performance. This data can be used to optimise operations and improve overall business performance.

Solution

At Airtel, we have created a Web Based Dialler that allows contact centres agents to place outbound calls through a web-based interface. Agents can make calls without physical telephones or traditional phone lines with a web-based dialler. It is integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) systems or other internal systems, which provide agents with access to customer data such as phone numbers, call history and queries etc., which helps agent to resolve customer queries. When an agent initiates a call through the web-based dialler, it automatically connects the call to the customer’s phone number. This allows the agent to communicate with the customer through their computer’s microphone, speakers, or headset. Agents have only two tasks to perform with Airtel Web-Based dialler, log on to the GUI and start making calls.

It also automates the dialling process, eliminating the need for agents to dial each number manually. This can significantly reduce agents’ time dialling numbers and increase the number of calls they can make in a given time frame.

Airtel Dialler platform high level architecture diagram

Automatic Dialling: One of the most significant benefits of an Airtel web-based dialler is automatic dialling. A dialler automatically dials phone numbers for agents, eliminating the need for manual dialling. This feature saves agents time and allows them to focus on their conversation with prospects. With Airtel web-based dialler, agents can simply click a button to initiate the call, saving time and improving accuracy. Additionally, an airtel web-based dialler can automatically detect and filter out invalid or disconnected numbers, further streamlining the process.

Workflow

We have used Asterisk PBX software which is an open-source framework for building communications applications. Asterisk offers both classical PBX functionality and advanced features and interoperates with traditional standards-based telephony systems and Voice over IP systems.

For Web based Dialler we have used webRTC library jsSIP (react-native-jsSIP) which is lightweight and support SIP over WebSocket transport. It Works with OverSIP, Kamailio, Asterisk. Mobicents and repro (reSIProcate) servers. JsSIP is a simple to use JavaScript library which leverages latest developments in SIP and WebRTC to provide a fully featured SIP endpoint in any GUI.

On top of this we have built custom applications to leverages the features provided by Asterisk. State Machines reads records from database and maintains context/state of the call and SMS sent to a specific number. Call Manager picks records from Artemis MQ & send to Asterisk for processing. It calls Asterisk AMI interface to initiate actual call to Asterisk. It listens to all the responses coming from Asterisk for the call and relays them back to State machine via designated Queue.

Sequence diagram

Campaign Manager: Contact centre supervisors can manage and create campaigns through GUI. Agent assisted Campaign allows for the manual control of campaigns (start, stop and pause buttons in the Start/Stop/Pause column).

Creates campaigns in the Agent assisted Campaign by:

• uploading a contact list
• uploading an agent list
• uploading a calling party number list
• setting the dialling mode
• setting dialling window

When a campaign starts, it reserves aligned agents in the selected Campaign and sends them contacts from its contact list, following the flow defined for the selected dialling mode.

The Agent assisted Campaign includes the following columns:

· Campaign Name

· Campaign Type (Progressive, Predictive)

· Process

· Agent Count

· Processing State (Ready, Running, Paused, Window_Expired or Completed)

· View/Edit/Download/Rechurn/Delete

· Start/Stop/Pause

Predictive Dialling: Predictive dialling is a more advanced feature that uses algorithms to predict when an agent will become available and dials multiple numbers simultaneously. This ensures that an agent always has a call waiting for them as soon as they become available. This can significantly increase an agent’s number of calls in a given time frame. Predictive dialling can also help eliminate dead air or ringing, which can frustrate customers.

Progressive dialling: A progressive dialling is similar to a predictive dialler, but it only dials one number at a time, rather than multiple numbers simultaneously. This type of dialling is commonly used for campaigns where the call volume is lower, and the focus is on connecting the agent with the right customer at the right time.

Call Recording: Another valuable feature of Airtel web-based dialler is call recording. Dialler records all calls made by agents. This feature is essential for training, quality assurance, or legal purposes. Call recordings can also provide agents feedback, allowing them to improve their communication skills and customer service to serve customers.

Managing call lists: Airtel web-based dialler helps you manage call lists and organise contacts based on different criteria, such as demographics, interests, queries or buying behaviour.

Improving call quality: Airtel web-based dialler includes features such as call recording, call monitoring and call analytics, which can help to improve the quality of the calls and provide better customer service.

Call Monitoring: Airtel web-based dialler provides call monitoring feature where managers can listen ongoing calls of agents. This allows them to ensure that agents are following script guidelines and providing quality customer service. They can also whisper/barge in call to help agent which helps to provide quality customer service

Agents Monitoring: Airtel web-based dialler provides agent monitoring feature where managers can monitor the live agents. This allows them to ensure that agents are taking calls properly and their idle time is not increasing.

Reducing call abandonment: Dialler reduce call abandonment rates by using features such as call-back scheduling and call queuing.

Increasing productivity: Dialler helps sales agents to make more calls in less time by automating dialling, call dispositioning, and follow-up tasks.

Advanced Features: Airtel web-based dialler comes with advanced features such as call recording, call transfer and conference calling. These features can be useful for businesses and individuals who need to manage and track their calls more effectively.

Real-time Analytics: Airtel Web-based diallers is also providing real-time analytics on contact centres operations. For example, supervisors can track how many calls agents make, how long they spend on each call, how many calls are being answered, agent login hours and agent productivity. This data can help managers identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions about staffing and training.

Airtel web-based dialler can be used in a variety of business use cases. Here are some examples of how businesses can use dialler to improve their operations and drive better results:

Telemarketing: Telemarketing companies can use dialler to automate the process of calling potential customers and generating leads. By using a predictive dialler, telemarketers can dial multiple phone numbers simultaneously, and then connect the agent with the first customer who answers the phone. This can help telemarketers reach more customers and generate more leads per agent.

Sales: Sales teams can use dialler to automate the process of calling potential customers and closing deals. By using a dialler, sales agents can quickly connect with customers and spend more time selling, rather than dialling phone numbers manually. This can help sales teams increase their call volumes and drive more sales per agent.

Collections: Collections agencies can use diallers to automate the process of calling customers who owe money. By using a progressive dialler, collections agents can dial one number at a time, and then connect with the customer who answers the phone. This can help collections agencies reach more customers and increase their recovery rates.

Customer Service: Customer service teams can use diallers to improve their operations and enhance the customer experience. By using a click-to-call feature, customer service agents can quickly initiate calls with customers from a CRM system, without having to manually dial phone numbers. This can help customer service teams to resolve issues more quickly and efficiently, leading to higher customer satisfaction rates.

Market Research: Market research firms can use diallers to automate the process of calling potential survey participants. By using a preview dialler, researchers can preview the customer’s contact information before the call is connected, and then decide whether to proceed with the call or skip it. This can help market research firms reach more potential participants and generate more accurate data.

Conclusion

Airtel web-based dialler is a powerful tool to help contact centres streamline operations, increase efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction. Contact centres save time and reduce errors by automating dialling and providing agents with customer data. Additionally, features such as call recording, call monitoring and real-time analytics can help contact centres managers make informed decisions and improve performance. Dialler can be used in a variety of business use cases, including telemarketing, sales, collections, customer service, and market research. By automating the process of dialling phone numbers, businesses can improve their operations, drive better results, and enhance the customer experience.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues Arjit Gupta, Siddharth Agarwal, Vinit Singh, and Arpit Mishra for their help in making this article possible.