INBOUND CAMPAIGNS IN PHONA

Managing inbound calls is easy with Phona. In this support guide, we will discuss the steps for setting up an inbound calling campaign. 

The Basic Concept

All calls coming into Phona route through our central hub-and-spoke network and routing is determined by the number that received the call. Each inbound campaign needs to be associated with a dedicated inbound calling number. Calling numbers can be purchased from inside the platform but are subject to number availability. 

If you have an IVR/Switchboard: 

For clients that have an existing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phonesystem setup for their tollfree or business numbers, you may need to introduce a new menu in your IVR that will direct incoming calls to Phona. For example, 

"Welcome to <OurCompany>. For Sales, press 1, for support, press 2."

In this example, if you want Phona to handle your incoming sales queries, then you would need to redirect the "1" option to the inbound number you have defined for the Inbound Sales Campaign inside Phona. This way, when someone calls your primary phone number and presses 1, the call will be routed to Phona and the "sales campaign" rules will be applied. 

This is the most efficient method for getting Phona to handle your inbound calls. You could have multiple inbound call campaigns, each with its own dedicated number which is then linked to the menu items in your IVR. That way, you only ever have to advertise 1 number, your primary number across all your sales, support and marketing collateral. 

Please note, you may incur additional charges from your telephony service provider for routing the call which will be billed by your telephony company directly to you. 

If you don't have an IVR/Switchboard: 

For clients that do not have an Interactive Voice Response based call routing method, you will need to use multiple inbound numbers for individual campaigns. For instance, if you want Phona to handle incoming sales queries as well as support queries, then you will need to setup 2 different inbound campaigns inside Phona - one to handle the sales calls and the other to handle the support calls, each with its own dedicated phone number. 

In that situation, Phona will need to be able to differentiate incoming calls to know which campaign rules to apply. Without an IVR, the only way Phona can tell the difference is by observing which number was called. Hence, one campaign can only be tied to one number. 

If you are new to IVRs and switchboards, and would like to set one up, we can assist and guide you for a cost-effective solution. Please contact live support and ask for assistance in this regard. 

Attaching Knowledgegraph Items to Campaigns

While Knowledgegraph Items (KGs) are essential for both inbound and outbound campaigns, they are particularly valuable for inbound campaigns since its mainly the caller whose interactions drive the conversation based on their query. Here are some example scenarios to help you understand this concept further: 

Restaurants: If someone is calling to reserve a table, or order something from your menu for a delivery or take-out, then adding your Menu as a PDF in the Knowledgegraph section is vital. 

E-Commerce: If you have a delivery, shipping and refund policy and someone calls about a product they've ordered, then knowing that policy in detail will help Phona provide accurate responses during the call in a natural and conversational manner. 

Adding External Data Sources

In order for Phona to meet the expectations of the caller, in some instances, it would need to query external data sources to get realtime information. This is particularly useful in cases where the caller expects a resolution (to an issue with their purchase, for instance) or an answer to their question, which might have realtime implications.

Before you start: 

You'll need to make sure your existing data source (Real Estate MLS, Internal CRM, E-Commerce store) has the ability to export data either via an RSS feed, an XML data file or a jSON file. 

Setup your data source to dump data to an external URL periodically. For instance, the RSS feed format pulls the last "N" number of records from a data source or a JSON endpoint could pull all the items from your data source. If you have a CRM that holds critical information about a customer, such as notes, full contact details, a repository of all past interactions etc, then you'd want a data source that is capable of being queried based on a customer's name, email, phone number or some other unique identifier. For e-commerce stores, it is recommended to have the order ID of the purchase, customer's email address or name as typical query items. 

Here are a few examples where external data sources will be useful: 

Restaurants: Someone calls in to reserve a table. Your Restaurant booking system, which holds all currently reserved tables will need to provide Phona a data source it can query during the call to determine if a slot is available. This can also be handled by ensuring your Restaurant Reservation System syncs with your Google Calendar, in which case, Phona will use the calendar as the primary source of availability. 

Real Estate: If you have multiple listings inside your MLS, and someone calls enquiring about a property, then Phona will need to have access to your MLS data source in order to determine if its still available or not. In most modern MLS systems, there are APIs that can be utilized for achieving this level of integration, but it might require additional customization on your part. 

E-Commerce: If someone calls asking for a status update on the delivery of an item they've purchased from your website, then Phona will need to integrate with your website's e-commerce platform to determine shipping status. Most modern e-commerce stores provide an API for this, but again, it might require additional customizations on your part. 

Feel free to discuss your existing setup with our support team and we'll be able to guide you as to how such data sources can be brought inside Phona.