This tutorial briefs you on how to use the Hosted VICIdial Demo. It will make most sense to someone who has some experience operating a predictive / auto dialer.
We have split it into 4 sections. Section 2 and 3 will help you get up and running with using Hosted VICIdial Demo.
- Things already configured
- Uploading leads
- Start operating your Hosted Dialer
- Sign up
1. Things already configured
After you register for the dialer demo and log into your VICIdial server, you will find that most of the activities you need to perform as a VICIdial administrator are already done for you. Details are as follows:
- Agents login: 700 agent accounts from ID 7301 To 7999 are already created for you. For the demo use agent login 7701 with password 7701.
- Campaign: Some default campaigns are already created for you. Campaign named “Demo – Manual” is set to manual dialing and campaign “Demo2 – AutoDial“ is set to automatic dialing. For the demo use campaign “Demo – Manual”
- Lists: A default list “TEST LEADS” is already created and is assigned to “Campaign Demo2”. A set of sample leads file is uploaded into list “TEST LEADS”, so that you can start testing the demo right away. These sample leads do not dial real people, instead they play messages that explain features of the dialer. Steps to create lists and uploading leads into the campaign are explained later in this tutorial.
2. Uploading leads into the default campaign
If the demo leads provided are good enough you can skip this section and move on to “Start operating the Hosted dialer” section.
For uploading leads into a campaign, first create a list, assign it to a campaign and then upload leads into that list. Login as Administrator and click on ‘lists’. Click on create a new list. Options provided are
- List ID: Unique list ID.
- List Name: List name between 2 to 20 characters.
- List Description: Something descriptive (optional).
- Campaign: This list belongs to the selected campaign.
- Active: Select Y option.
E.g. below shows list being created with following values.
- List ID: 12345
- List Name: TEST LEADS
- List Description: TEST DEMO LEADS
- Campaign: Demo2
- Active: Y
Click on submit and the list is created.
After list is created, upload leads into it. For uploading leads click on ‘lists’. Click on Load new leads.Leads file should be in .xls,.csv or plain text format. See sample leads file. This file can actually be used to test the dialer. Enter following details in the list-loader page.
- Load leads from this file: Browse your leads file and upload it.
- List ID Override: Enter List Id of list which you just created.
- Phone Code Override: Leave blank
- File layout to use: Choose ‘Custom layout’
- Leave rest of the options to default value.
Clicking on submit button opens up a new page, select matching VICIdial columns against your lead file columns and click on ‘OK to process’.
After submitting, it displays a message about the status of your leads. In ideal case it should display a message as GOOD: n-1 BAD: 1 and TOTAL: n where n is the no of entries in your leads file. The GOOD and BAD entries depends upon the quality of your leads file.
Start operating your Hosted Dialer
Now that your Agents are created, phone logins configured, campaign created and leads uploaded into it, lets see how you can start using the hosted VICIdial server. Section below shows the series of steps that the Agent performs to login into the VICIdial web console and start making/receiving calls. Steps are followed by the screen shots wherever needed. Demonstration given below is for Agent 7701 logged into phone extension w7701. i.e
- Agent with User Login: 7701 and password 7701.
- Phone login (if asked): w7701 and password w7701.
- Campaign name (for manual dial): “DEMO – Manual”.
- VICIdial server address: Will have been sent to you on registration, like xyz.cc.warmconnect.in
In your browser, enter the URL of your VICIdial server. click on Agent login on the menu on top
Enter web interface user login name and user password, select campaign to log into.
After clicking on submit button it will take you to web-phone view where click on Call Agent Webphone
After clicking on Call Agent WebPhone you need to allow microphone first at agent interface and VICIdial server connects you to the session. If your campaign is set to manual dialing then click on ‘DIAL NEXT NUMBER’ to start dialing from the leads or click on ‘You are Paused’ if campaigns dial method is set to ratio.
To finish a call, click on ‘HANGUP CUSTOMER’. It will redirect you to disposition page, there you can enter the outcome of the call and click on submit.
After clicking on submit, you will be redirected back to the VICIdial console where you can start making new calls.
4. Sign-up
The demo above has a daily limit, after which the server will automatically shut down. However, your account will automatically be credited with demo credit for a few days, when you can resume your experimentation.
Signing up after the demo is also easy. Start depositing money into your prepay account, details of which are sent in the email when you register for the demo. The first payment must be of Rs 500 made by wire transfer, after which you can switch to credit cards and PayPal. On payment the demo server above will automatically be converted to production.