In an event where it is not possible to handle inbound calls (routed through Studio or Classic Routing), you can configure the behavior that those calls will have in such a disruption, through Continuity Settings.
To do it, you will first need to adjust the permissions in the Roles and Permissions section within the “Admin” app to allow you to “Update” and “Activate/Deactivate” Continuity Settings, as shown below.
Once the permissions have been configured, you will be able to configure the Continuity Settings and define the following behaviors:
- Forward inbound calls that reach each Talkdesk number to a specific phone number.
- Forward inbound calls that reach Talkdesk numbers to a single external phone number.
- Play an audio message.
With these solutions, you will be able to define the experience that you will provide to your customers in an unlikely event that prevents Talkdesk from handling inbound calls. If this happens and your contact center is suddenly prevented from operating correctly, click Enable at the top right-hand side of the main screen, followed by Save to activate the Continuity Settings.
Note: Enabling Continuity Settings in your account will not impact calls that have already entered the queue and are waiting for agent assignment. Enqueued calls will remain in a "queued" status until dispositioned by your existing IVR rules.
You can also Disable Continuity Settings at any time to cease their execution.
Call Forwarding to Specific Phone Numbers
Call Forwarding to a Single Number
Updating and Maintaining the List of Phone Numbers
Call Forwarding Considerations
Fallback Experience Activation
Call Forwarding to Specific Phone Numbers
If you have specific Talkdesk numbers to handle specific matters (for example, you have a phone number that deals with incoming calls related to technical support, another one that deals with incoming calls related to billing, and so on) you can forward those calls to specific external phone numbers. You can do so by doing the following:
- Click on Admin and then select the Continuity Settings tab.
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You will see a setting named "Configure forwarding to multiple numbers" [1]. This configuration allows you to define specific external phone numbers to which you can forward calls when they reach the specified numbers in your account. You can proceed with this configuration by manually entering them [2] or by importing them through a .csv file [3].
Importing Phone Numbers
- To import phone numbers, first, you will have to download the template file [1].
- This template is a .csv file with two columns:
- “Talkdesk Number”: Insert the Talkdesk number.
- “Forward to Number”: Insert the external number to which the call should be forwarded.
Please ensure that you insert the Talkdesk number and the respective external phone number to which the calls should be forwarded in each line. Then, save the file.
Note: The numbers to be filled in the template should respect the E.164 format with the “+” prefix.*
- When your .csv file is ready, click on the Import numbers button [2].
- By doing so, a modal will appear where you will be able to upload your .csv file with the list that you have created. You can either drag and drop the file or browse it on your computer. Once you have selected the file, click on Import numbers [3].
- The uploaded list will be reflected in the interface, where each line that is presented corresponds to a line in the uploaded .csv file.
- Click “Save” at the top of the page to save your configuration.
Manually Adding Phone Numbers
- Fill the text box under “Talkdesk number” with the Talkdesk number that you wish to set for call forwarding [1]. Please bear in mind that the format of the number should respect the E.164 format with the “+” prefix.
- Fill the text box under “External number” with the External number to which the calls that reach the specified Talkdesk number should be forwarded [2]. Please bear in mind that the format of the number should respect the E.164 format with the “+” prefix.
- Click on Add number [3] and repeat steps 1 and 2 for every number that you wish to configure.
- Click “Save” at the top of the page to save your changes.
Call Forwarding to a Single Number
If you have other Talkdesk numbers that do not need to have call forwarding to specific external phone numbers (or if you don’t have that need for any of your Talkdesk numbers), you can forward your calls to a single number.
To do it, please follow these steps:
- Click on “Admin” and then select the “Continuity Settings” section.
- Under “Calls to numbers with no forwarding”, select the option Forward to a single number [1].
- On the text box that appears, enter the single external phone number [2]. Please bear in mind that the number should respect the E.164 format with the “+” prefix.
- Click Save at the top of the page to save your configuration [3].
Performing this configuration will make all calls that reach your account’s phone numbers - which have not been paired with a specific external phone number - to be forwarded to the specified single external number.
Play Audio Message
If no call forwarding is configured (either forwarding calls to multiple numbers or forwarding calls to a single number), a caller will hear an audio message when they call in if this setting is active. By default, the message the caller will hear is the following: “We are currently not able to connect your call. Please try again momentarily”.
If you do not wish to configure any call forwarding, you can define an audio message that your caller will hear in the unlikely event of an outage that prevents Talkdesk from handling inbound calls occurs. You can redirect the customer to other contact lines such as e-mail or chat, or other self-servicing channels at your customers’ disposal, for example. To do so, you can use:
- "Text to speech"
- "Link to external file"
Text to Speech
- Under “Calls to numbers with no forwarding”, select the option Play audio message [1].
- Select Text to speech [2].
- Select the desired language that you wish to use to output your message [3].
- Insert the text for the message that you wish for your callers to hear [4].
- Click “Save” at the top of the page to save your configuration.
Link to External Source
- Under “Calls to numbers with no forwarding”, select the option Play audio message [1].
- Select Link to external source [2].
- Insert a URL link to the audio source [3].
The URL will retrieve an external file that is in either MP3 or WAV format. Click on the Test audio button [4] to make sure the file is in perfect condition.
Updating and Maintaining the List of Phone Numbers
The list of phone numbers that have a specific call forwarding can be updated by:
- Manually adding (by clicking on “Add number”), deleting (by clicking on the trash icon) or editing (by writing the new values onto the existing fields), and then clicking “Save”.
- Importing a new .csv template with the updated list. Please note that by doing so, the entire list will be replaced by the new one.
Note: Whenever you purchase a new phone number or delete a phone number, it is advisable to also reflect those changes in the call forwarding settings you may have configured, to consistently have your business continuity settings updated.
Call Forwarding Considerations
- Call forwarding is transparent. When enabled, calls will appear on the receiving end as though they came directly from the original caller.
- Inbound calls that occur with Continuity Settings enabled will not be reflected in Live or Explore reports.
- Enabling Continuity Settings will not impact outbound calls or inbound calls that are in an “in-progress” or “queued” status.
- For numbers configured with PCI Pal (voice) integrations, payment processing will not be available when Continuity Settings are enabled. This is by design and ensures call security and PCI compliance.
- Call forwarding from a Talkdesk toll-free number to an external toll-free number often does not work due to the cost structure of the toll-free numbering system.
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- When there are multiple toll-free numbers in the call chain, each party tries to pass off the cost to the other party, and often toll-free providers avoid this hassle by rejecting calls from other toll-free numbers. Forward calls to Talkdesk toll-free numbers to regular long code numbers instead.
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Fallback Experience Activation
In this section we will be able to set up for the first time the account identifier and pin.
Just press the Set Up button, and a new account identifier and pin will be generated. Please make sure these values are safely stored.
Confirm by pressing the Set Up button. If the action is canceled by pressing the X on the top right of the box, the values will be deleted, and the account will return to the original state without any account identifier or pin.
After confirmation, the account identifier and pin are now set.
If needed, a new pin can be generated by pressing the Set new PIN button.
To dial a number from the numbers list and follow the voice prompts to enable or disable Continuity settings via phone, just click the Numbers List, and a list of numbers will be shown.