Estimated reading time: 5 minutes | Target users: New users

Projects provide the essential framework for your contact center operations. A project enables you to define your inbound and outbound workflows, list of supervisors and agents, client databases, Email and SMS templates, agent scripts, datasheets and more, all customized to, amongst others, the needs of a specific campaign.

In this lesson, you will learn:

• What a project is
• What the components of a project are
• How to create a project

1. Projects

A project can be described as a framework in which you define your inbound and outbound workflows, and utilize and combine logs and statistics for reporting purposes. It can be thought of as a functional unit within your operations, used, for example, for Customer Care, Up-selling, or a Special Christmas promotion.

1.1 Project Components and Resources

A project consists of different kind of components:

• Database: A data repository where you store information on your existing or potential clients and calls. It helps you organize, maintain and update your data.
• Disposition: Dispositions are used by agents or the dialer to indicate the outcome of a call.
• Datasheet and Script: You can create datasheets and scripts that help agents handle calls using predefined dialogues, talking points, and information sheets.
• Email and SMS template: Email and SMS templates are reusable HTML files that can be sent in bulk, and customized using formatting and variables. They also define the stucture of the messages you want to send.
• Users: A user account enables a member of your organization to log into VCC Live and access the projects, resources, and settings they are granted rights to. Please note that users are created independent of any project, and are then assigned to a specific project as required. Agent users in a project will be assigned to outbound calls by default. To let agent users receive inbound calls, they must be assigned to inbound queues, Similarly, you can assign agent users to chat queues.

2. Creating Your First Project

The New project wizard presents a sequence of dialog boxes that takes you through the process of creating a new project. During the process, you can add dispositions, select users, and upload a database you’ve created — but these can also be modified later on.

2.1 Launching the Project Wizard

1. Press New project. The New project wizard appears.
2. Enter “Demo Project” in the Name field.
3. Select a telco provider from the Call routing drop-down list. While Default – Global routing is the default selection, you can also use your own integrated telecommunication provider. Caller numbers, outbound numbers, as well as inbound numbers can be selected here. You may choose an inbound number later.
4. The Dialing Mode is set to Manual by default, however we always recommend using either Power or Predictive modes because you can generate more calls and have a more successful campaign.
5. Choose the project color. A project color helps those agents who are working on multiple projects simultaneously — it’ll be easier to them to distinguish different types of tasks. You can change this setting at anytime during the project’s lifetime.
6. Press Next to move on to the Dispositions screen.

2.2 Selecting Dispositions

To start your project, you need to add at least one custom disposition, but we recommend creating one of each disposition type, or depending on your business needs, even more.

1. So, let’s add 3 new dispositions: “Sold” with a “Successful” outcome, “Requested Callback” with a “Reached” outcome, and “Wrong person answered” with an “Unreached” outcome. You can add more customized dispositions later.
2. Press Next to move to the the agent selector screen. If you have already created users, you can assign them to the project you’re creating now. If you have no users to choose from, skip this step. You can add more users later.
3. Press Finish to move on to the database import screen.
4. An import wizard window pops up. Navigate to the CSV or TXT file you previously created, select it and then press Open to import it. The system will automatically recognize fields that you can add or exclude from the project. For more details about the import process, see To Import Records.
5. The system will automatically generate a script for you, which you can modify or customize later. Press Next.

2.3 Activating the Project

Before you can start using the projects, there are a few settings you need to tweak.

1. Your project is initially Inactive, so you must activate it. Select a project from the project list, then select the General tab.
2. In the General pane, select Active or Inactive from the Status drop-down list. Press Save.
3. Set a start and end date for your project. Any project with dates outside the time period you set will not be visible to agents. Callbacks outside this time period can also not be set. Projects with an expired end date are marked with a icon.

Congratulations!

You have just created your first project in VCC Live.

Ready for the next lesson? You’ll learn about dialers and the basics of outbound projects.
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