Talkdesk Dialer™ includes the option to use Answering Machine Detection (AMD) on outbound dialer campaigns. By default, all Dialer campaigns are configured with the AMD feature disabled.
Note: Always check your local government regulations, or appropriate legal advisor, to confirm whether the use of this technology is advisable for campaigns being run in your organization.
What is Answering Machine Detection?
Answering Machine Detection (AMD) uses software to determine whether a machine (such as a Voicemail system) or a human has answered a particular call. AMD can be used by an outbound contact center to increase the efficiency of your agents by avoiding consuming agent time with calls answered by a machine.
AMD Compatibility
AMD is an available option when operating outbound calls in predictive mode.
AMD Handling
When AMD is enabled on a Talkdesk Dialer campaign, all outbound calls run through the AMD service before alerting agents of an available call. Outbound calls are continuously made by the Talkdesk Dialer and, upon receiving an answer notification from the called party, the AMD service will analyze the audio and determine whether the call was:
- Answered by a machine (e.g. Voicemail, Fax, or other).
- Answered by a human.
- Indeterminate (e.g. uncertain of whether it was a human or a machine).
Following the AMD determination, Talkdesk Dialer acts as follows:
- If the AMD service determines the call was answered by a machine, the call is actioned to disconnect. If the AMD service identifies a human or uncertain outcome, the call is actioned to immediately alert an agent to handle the call.
Note: It is not possible to adjust the action following the AMD determination. For instance, you cannot adjust a machine determination to perform an automated voicemail drop instead of disconnecting the call. Likewise, you cannot adjust a human determination to connect the answered call to an automated messaging system (e.g. IVR).
Performance
The accuracy of detection varies significantly, and Talkdesk cannot provide guarantees in this regard. Accurate detection depends on a number of external factors such as the voicemail system, telephony carrier being used by the contracted party, local infrastructure, geographic location, types of devices, and other factors which may be unique to the local market.
Enabling AMD will also increase the connection time between the agent and called party, due to the necessity to analyze the audio stream prior to a determination being made.
Configuring AMD on a Campaign
AMD can be enabled or disabled on a per-campaign basis. Some of your campaigns can be set up to use AMD, while for others the service can be disabled.
Within the configuration for any campaign, the “Answering machine detection” option is shown below. By toggling this switch, the AMD service will be enabled for this specific campaign.
Reporting and Dispositions
When AMD is enabled, an additional call disposition will be used. When a machine is detected, Dialer will trigger the disconnect and align the call with a disposition of “Answering Machine”.